Pilot Stunned as Plane Quarantined on Arrival: “In 25 Years of Flying, This is Unprecedented

A United Airlines flight was ordered “quarantined” upon landing on a runway in Texas last Friday after 25 people who had recently traveled on a cruise in Canada fell ill during the flight.

According to one passenger, the plane’s pilot said that in his lengthy aviation career, he had never been ordered grounded by the federal government until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told him no one was permitted to leave the aircraft.

KPRC-TV reported United Airlines flight 1528 left Vancouver, British Columbia, last Friday en route to Houston.

Several hours into the flight, passengers began to fall ill, with most of them reporting feeling nauseous.

Passenger James Snell told KPRC that roughly 90 minutes before the plane landed, a sickness had spread, and the flight crew eventually isolated those who fell ill to a group of people who had just left a Celebrity Cruises ship in which an outbreak of norovirus had been reported.

In total, 25 of 75 people who had been on a cruise ship and who were scheduled to land at George Bush Intercontinental Airport reported symptoms.

The aircraft landed at the airport in Houston at around 6:30 p.m. on Friday, but Snell explained that was when the situation grew more peculiar.

“Then all of a sudden, the flight attendant, she put on a mask, and the guy next to me is like, ‘What do you think’s going on?’ And I’m like, ‘Bro, I don’t know. You know? I mean, COVID, we’re all going to die.’ You know what I mean,” Snell told KPRC.

The man said that the plane was met by “firetrucks and ambulances” and that passengers were held there briefly, minus three people who were immediately removed but not hospitalized.

Snell added that the pilot relayed to the passengers how unprecedented the situation was.

“This is where it got weird,” the man added. “[The pilot] got over the speaker, but he came out to us, and he said, ‘Hey, in my 25 years of flying, I’ve never seen anything like this. We have been quarantined by the CDC. Nobody can exit the plane until the CDC lets us off.’”

Snell said that when passengers were eventually let off the plane, after about 45 minutes, they were screened by health professionals. Snell said he was concerned that people might go their separate ways and spark a new pandemic.

Both the CDC and United Airlines said in separate statements that the situation was an isolated one.

The airline said in a statement, “Several passengers who had been on the same cruise and did not feel well were on United Flight 1528 from Vancouver to Houston tonight. United Airlines is actively coordinating with health authorities to address the situation.”

The airliner said the aircraft involved would be pulled from service temporarily, so it could be sterilized.

United said, “As a precautionary measure, the aircraft will be removed from service and go through a deep cleaning before returning to service. Ensuring the health and safety of our passengers and crew remains our top priority.”

Meanwhile, the CDC said in a statement that its actions were precautionary after the passengers reported stomach issues.

“Public health officers from CDC’s Houston Port Health Station worked with EMS to evaluate ill passengers on board. Most of the ill passengers reported mild GI symptoms,” the agency said. “No passengers were noted to have a fever during the flight or upon public health assessment at landing. No passengers met CDC criteria for further public health follow-up. Passengers from the flight continued with their travel plans.”

Symptoms of norovirus include nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, and it can be spread easily from person to person, contaminated food, or contaminated surfaces, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

The illness usually passes in just a few days.